SOFTWARE tian adventurers have joined together
ici drive ilie Saracen infidels from the Holy Land. You, as Han the Crusader, are armed with a longbow and must
make your way through
100 castle
rooms, blowing away the Saracen chief
In each before moving on to the next. The castle soldiers are whirling col
ored snowflakcs that cling to llie walls
Ofa room as they move about (Remem
ber the butterflies in Boulderdash?) In oider to disintegrate the chieftain, you
must find the grenade located on each
GALLERY
writing on ilie walls after the beginning levels. .Sometimes, opening up a wall to get to the necessary grenade unleashes soldiers, and Ilan has to hustle lo reload
iiis crossbow after each shot. Sometimes a safety /one is provided so thai Ilan can avoid soldiers and cannonballs while surveying tile territory. However, he can't shoot his longbow from a safety £onc. It's a place fur resting and wailing
while determining
the
path
of the
guards, not a place for ambush.
Things start out easily enough: Your
walls, activate magic doors, open linked
screen. Star-like white pixels flow slowly and smoothly from easl to west. The
lo turn them into bricks so that soldiers,
may
seem obvious
by
now that
shooting everything in sight isn't the
first invasion Taka your time—your next move could be your last In Saracen. Solving the way to the next level—not
racking up points—is the main object The game keeps track of the score, but
as an Indication of its Importance, the booklet doesn't assign values lo doing in soldiers and doesn't award bonuses for finishing a maze in one minute in stead of two.
always desirable, either. If Ilan doesn't move about methodically, he'll find his
smooth. Although tile documentation
Graphics are colorful and scrolling is
quiver empty of "Up" arrows jnsr when
doesn't mention it. (he theme song can be
lie needs lo knock a hole in the celling, There's no penally for standing in one spot while contemplating your next
There's no construction set for more
but costs you a life. There arc five Hans
allotted at the beginning of the game, with
an
additional
one
awarded
shut iili by hitting 0—thank goodness. screens, but the 100 on the disk should last awhile. In short, Saracen is all the fun of Boulderdash bin widiout the falling rocks. (Datasoft, 1980S Nordhoff Place,
Chatsuorth, CA. 91311. C-64/$I9.95.)
lor
Lakeland, vi.
The ability to get farther by plotting th.tu by joystick dexterity is one of the
points that attracted me lo Saracen. Ai
times, however, there will be passageways filled with bouncing cannonhalls, where
Han's only hope is a i|uick two-step. Another nice touch is the ability lo start the game on any of its 100 levels.
The first few are deceptively simple, allowing plenty ol opportunity to prac tice shooting soldiers and look around
fighter ships,
below the center of the screen. Move
For this feat, you earn one credit. It
can be spent by flying over the special wave of floating armaments and ship enhancements thai follow each new set of attackers. Or, one credit can buy ex tra speed. If you had two credits, you could buy an increased rate of fire.
To make a purchase, fly over any blue icon. Try purchasing weaponry repre sented by the gray icons thai arc more
expensive, and your ship explodes, Money talks; greed walks. Credits can't be saved, so buy when possible.
After the shopping excursion,
an
other wave of aliens appears. Wipe out all the ships in each attack to earn a
credit for ihc next shopping spree. Explaining how to shoot all the aliens
from this point on would be like de
—LONNll- BROWN
each screen completed.
of alien
shaped like smoke rings, .sally in just down, shoot 'em up—easy.
way to win the game. Fast travel isn't
move. If you're really stuck, hitting Vi takes you to the beginning of the screen,
your stripes.
ship is on the left side ofa pitch-black
ones and explode "wall maker" blocks
li
the script; earn
of space, and each makes you wonder whai could be just beyond—and shud der at the thought of it
used to kill soldiers, knock holes in
bur force him to find another way out.
The waves of attackers on each sec-
Delta Patrol has more lhan 200 alien
tered around the rooms. Arrows can be
way doors that let (Ian go in a chamber
skip screens that have been mastered.
attack waves in 'Mi well-designed regions
tion, so Dan iiiiisi have a plan in mind before grabbing one of the arrows scat
shades of Ultimate Wizard with its key and lock. Some mus.es also contain one
ning, no matter how fast, far or fearless you've flown before. I'm sure many players would appreciate being able to
all happened.
Kncli arrow points in only one direc
key and then depositing it in a keyholder in another part of the maze—
disk, so you'll always start at the begin
Memorizing how things happen on the lower screens is a snap. On higher lev els, you'd probably rather forget how it
are his primary source of firepower.
Doors are also opened by finding a
Delta Patrol has only one entry level: survival. There's no saving games to
Learn
cany one object at a time and arrows
vices can't gel out.
that's as good as this one."
nario occur in the same sequences.
level, place it beside him and shorn the grenade with an arrow. Thai's the easy pan, and getting there is 99 percent of the fun. Han can only
cannonballs and other dastardly de
screen after screen, 1 pleaded, "Please—
another shoot-'emup, alien arcade game
scribing bow to perform Swan Lake or how to ride a bike.
The sitting-duck
smoke rings in the opening screen have
been replaced by what seem to be multi
Delta Patrol
A
Hey, This Is One
colored, buzz sawing comets. Worse yet, they shoot back! And, as you later learn, you have lo douse their lights in order to earn enough credits lo buy the nec
Tough Spare Neighborhood
essary speed to get past the fast-moving
To Hang Out in!
Those are then replaced by thimble-like
maze of columns
in
the
next
wave.
objects that are bobbing and weaving It was a dark and stormy nightmare.
in an ever-advancing line.
at the designs of the walls—which may
It was the night we patrolled Delta Sec
spell out game hints and messages in
tor. "Please," I said, as I booted up the
you've purchased ihc handy multiple-
the lower levels.
disk, "not another shoot-'em-up, alien
fire device that lets your ship shoot
arcade game." And, after sitting through
from rear, port and starboard. This is I
Hut there's no lime to read tin1 liatlcl 26
R U M
■
DECEMBER 1987
Meanwhile, back at the patrol ship,